Chapter
Part II Visions in Detail
4 What Must a Jew Study – and Why?
Maimonidean Aspects of the Phenomenology and Teleology of Learning
Appendix: Aggadah (Nonlegal Rabbinic Literature)
Supplement: Isadore Twersky
Part One: Meta-Halakhah and Education
On the Nature of Halakhah
On Observance and Spirituality
On the Educational Challenge of Spirituality in Halakhah
On the Aims of Halakhic Education
Part Two: Maimonidean Sources on Education
The Mishneh Torah on the Nature of Halakhah
Maimonides on Ahavat Hashem and Avodat Hashem
Maimonides and the Issue of Elitism
The Halakhic Curriculum in History
Part Three: Halakhic Education in Practice
General Education and Culture
Ahavat Yisrael (Love of Jews for One Another)
5 Jewish Studies in Israel from a Liberal-Secular Perspective
Supplement: Menachem Brinker
Part One: The Eastern European Hebrew Writers
Part Two: Brinker, the Hebrew Writers, and Contemporary Realities
On Jewish Particularity and General Culture in Israel
On the Culture War Between Orthodox and Secular Jews in Israel
Part Three: Brinker’s Vision and Contemporary Jewish Education
On Spirituality and Brinker’s Vision
On the Dangers and Opportunities in Brinker’s Vision
On Hebrew in the Curriculum
Brinker’s Vision and Jewish Communities Outside Israel
6 We Were as Those Who Dream: An Agenda for an Ideal Jewish Education
1. Love of learning Torah (i.e., the fundamental books and their offshoots); and love of the fulfillment of the commandments…
2. Acceptance of the Torah as a moral guide, along with the recognition that its moral precepts have undergone constant…
3. A way of life that creates a community
4. A relationship to the Jewish people in all the lands of their dispersion
Supplement: Moshe Greenberg
Part One: Greenberg’s Theory of Religion and Its Implications for Jewish Education
Religion as a System of Symbols
Judaism as a Response to Spiritual Needs
Part Two: The Central Role of Jewish Text Study
Parshanut: The Tradition of Jewish Text Study
Part Three: Jewish Text Today
Ancient Texts and Contemporary Life
Jewish Education Within the Family
Jewish Education at the University
7 Reflections on the Educated Jew from the Perspective of Reform Judaism
Definitions, Dilemmas, Goals
A. From Education to Commitment
B. Concentrating on Jewish Uniqueness
C. Education as Drawing into the Circle
D. Bringing Liberalism into the Jewish Religious Sphere
E. From Memory to Mitzvah, from History to Halakhah
The Community of Jewish Learning
D. Midrash and Memory, History and Critique
Supplement: Michael Meyer
Part One: The History of Reform Judaism
Modernization and Jewish Identity
The Development of Reform Judaism
American Reform Judaism since World War II
Part Two: Traditions and Trends in Reform Jewish Education
Postwar Reform Jewish Education
To See the World Through Jewish Eyes
The Educational Role of the Rabbi
8 Educated Jews: Common Elements
Three Educational Dimensions
“What If They Are All Right?”
Everyman’s “Educated Jew”: A Theoretical Exploration
1. Having a Language and Doing Literature
3. Competence and Comprehensiveness
4. Unity Amidst Diversity
5. “Nothing Human Is Foreign”
6. Judaism and Ultimate Concerns
7. The Individual and the Community
10. Solving Jewish Problems
On the Plane of Practice: Is Community Feasible?
Two Stories About Concern
Supplement: Michael Rosenak
9 The Concept of the Educated Person: With Some Applications to Jewish Education
The Concept of the Educated Person
Jewish Education and Schooling
Value and Cognitive Perspective
Knowledge of One’s Own Past
Supplement: Israel Scheffler
Part One: Autobiographical Reflections
Part Two: “Jewish Education: Purposes, Problems and Possibilities”
Part Three: “Moral Education and the Democratic Ideal”
Implications for Schooling
Part III Visions in Context
10 The Art of Translation
The Translation of Theory into Educational Practice
Early Childhood Education
Education Formal and Informal
Conclusion: The Practicality of Great Ideas
11 Before the Gates of the School: An Experiment in Developing Educational Vision from Practice
Background: The Goals Project
The Setting: A Nondenominational Community Day School
Five Categories for Doing the Work
1. Decoding the Implicit Vision
Vignette: The Tu bi-Shevat Poster
2. Establishing Readiness
Vignette: Helping Constituents to Identify with One Another
Vignette: The “Core Values” Group Retreat
3. Introducing Vision as a Framework for Everyday Practice
Vignette: Goals Statement on the Eighth Grade Trip to Israel
Vignette: The Tefillah Curriculum
4. Deepening Vision through Study
Vignette: The Visiting Professor
Vignette: Greenberg’s Conception of Prayer and the Magnes Tefillah Curriculum
5. Developing Strategies for Sustaining Vision in Practice
Concluding Vignette: From a Journal Entry, Midway Through the Project
Conclusion: The Courage to Envision
The Visions Project: Participants and Forums
Visions of Jewish Education
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